Task 1 – Assessment Developing Food Concepts and Products

1 Introduction

Due to rising competition, the companies have started inclining the product or service dimension into the preference of customers based on their demand and trend. The co-op has recently launched a new plant-based GRO sub-brand which is recognised as a fresh and new product that has aimed to target the particular customer for eating plant or minimising the intake of meat. Ready Meals is considered as the key focus area for Co-op within GRO which comprises 5-strong GRO ready meal range (Pitt, et al., 2020). The main purpose of the report is to explore the market performance of ready meals of Co-op and analysing the gap in the market to suggest the addition of two new products. The gap in the market has been identified by comparing with the similar ready meals products of Tesco, Allplants, Planty, etc. For suggestion, target marketing, packaging, price, and weight of the two recommended products.

2 Market performance

After several years of uninterrupted growth, with the UK-made food division serving as the most populous range in the whole of Europe, 2020 affected negatively. This was inspired by various factors such as uninterested customer opinions of sources considered preferred cuisines and spending. For the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, the UK, food manufacturers have witnessed changes in order. The business for both cold and frozen ready meals has observed decreasing sales representation (Cox, et al., 2003). The business has profited considerably from its reliability for implementing suitable and affordable meals that follow the requirements of time-pressed consumers, particularly the middle-aged 25-34.

Figure 1; Cuisine wise vegetables food consumption Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

Figure 2: Spend in cuisines Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

However, loss in order during the latter half of the year has been observed with the closure of office goers or professional workers (Worldpanelonline, 2021). Frozen meals can be described as meals where all the products have been appointed by the operator and the meals only require be cooking or making by a traditional oven or by the microwave oven, wick, crockpot, or other tools. Foods involved in the developed food section typically involve ‘healthy meals’, which do not need any extension of succeeding elements by the customer. The above data shows the change of cuisine preference of the customers. The customers have started to shift from English food to Chinese and Indian. Also, the loss in the number of customers ordering packaged food becomes low in the UK.

Figure 3: Product by Cuisines Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

Spaghetti Bolognese and curry with rice of Co-op appear in this section whether frozen, chilled or enclosed. The ‘surrounding’ cooked food has made more confidently. Sales of food enclosed by exotic flavours and Asian components have developed across the past age – a fair suggestion of the dynamic suggestions of customers (Birch, et al., 2019). The total chilled ready meals business is worth £1.9 billion but is restrained -1.2% from the past year. The chilled ready meals business is worth £382 million and has experienced a comparable drop: -1.3% total amount development. In opposition, ambient ready meals have observed a £4.4 million improvement in traffic in 2020 – a 2.2% rise. Innovative qualities have been helpful to this review. It is no mystery that the rollout of interesting new tastes has increased the business representation of ready meals.

Figure 4: Spend by country Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

The spending of customers can also be seen from the above table. The Italian customers spend the highest in the food category value as they hold 30% of the market (Worldpanelonline, 2021). The English and Indian subsequently come second and third with a major difference between them. English is 33.7 % and Indian is 13.2 %.

3.Gap analysis

The difference in price between the companies selling packaged ready food meals is seen in the above table. It shows Co-op has maintained the same selling cost for the ready meals. The cost charged by Co-op is £2.85. while Tesco had maintained a low price with changes in the amount. Considering the factor, it can be said that Co-op charges £2.95 for 370g while Tesco charged more or less 70 gm (Coop, 2021). The strategy of Tesco reflects on the penetration pricing strategy. Such policies are used by companies to attract new customers. Concerning the average price, it can be said that the co-op sells their products at a low cost that is a reflection of a cost-effective strategy. On the other hand, small start ups like Allplants set their pricing as high and emphasizing being the leader in the premium customer segment. The availability of cuisines in co-op is also considerable for replicating co-op as a good performer in the market. The company sold Chinese, Indian, Mexican, American, and many other cuisines (Coop, 2021). Whereas, Tesco’s most of the products are from Chinese and Thai cuisines. It shows the capability of co-op and stronghold in the market. On the other hand, Allplants sold most of the continental food items which are costly in the market too.

The use of ingredients by Tesco is quite high that is a considerable factor to attract health conscious customers who are the potential ready meals customer. Considering the market needs, it can be said that the Chinese and Indian foods have become popular in the market of UK ready meals. The English and Italian spend highest in the category of foods that have been found in the graph. In this context, it can be said that the co-op has the scope to prepare more ready meals with different cuisines (Coop, 2021). Especially, Chinese and Indian needs to be considered by the company. While Tesco’s strong presence in Chinese and Indian food along with the good reputation in the market empowers the company to increase their ready meals food category.

It is found that the customers in the UK have been shifting to vegan foods which are a major concern for the organisations to develop new ready meals foods. The comparison of ingredients use between Tesco and co-op shows a major difference. Although, both the company uses the concept of vegan food the use of spices is quite high in Tesco (Tesco, 2021). It is a threat for the business of the super market leader. The customers concerned with spice foods have become rejected by Tesco’s ready meals category. The work life balance is a concern among the work professionals in the UK. It also reflects on the need for healthy foods with fewer spices. In this regard, it can be said that the customer segment cannot be the potential customer of Tesco.

The size of ready meals is also a concern for co-op as well as Tesco. Tesco sold the food in a small packet of 70 gm on an average. While the ready meals of the co-op are weighed around 370 gm. Tesco’s 70 gm average ready meals size raises a concern about the customers who want food in large size (Tesco, 2021). Whatever the package size of the co-op is also a concern as many customers prefer to have food with a large quantity that can feed them properly. The innovative ready meals of the brook us also considerable for Tesco as well as co-op. Co-op can consider the opportunity to sell all of their different food items in a combo offer. This would help in selling food in large quantities and grab the attraction of a new segment of customers.

4.                New product concepts

4.1.           Noodles with roasted vegetables

The food comes in a package of 300 gm ready to eat a meal. The delicious and wholesome ready food does not require any rehydration. The food pack will also include an antibacterial wipe, a flameless meal heater, and recyclable spork. Antiviral wipes will also be given with the antibacterial wipe in the meal box. The food is needed to be roasted in low flame for preparing the food.

4.1.1Main ingredient

The food items will be available in mixture of vegetables and spices. The ingredients of the packaged ready meal are as follows:

• Carrot
• Broccoli,
• Red peppers
• Green pepper
• Ripe tomatoes
• Red onions
• Head garlic
• Cloves
• Garlic cloves
• Virgin olive oil
• Method
• Cayenne pepper
• Sunflower seeds
• Soya sauce
• Pasta noodles
• Tomato purée
• Basil leaves
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mushroom

4.1.2.Cuisine

The cuisine of the food is quite difficult to identify. This is because the meal box consists of different ingredients from a different region. A sort of options will also be there for the Indian and Chinese added flavours as the options of adding Indian and Chinese special masala will be available. The ready meals kit will be based on vegetables only. Vegetables will be for the people who love to have authentic and healthy food. However, presence of noodles in huge quantity and addition of vegetables on it, made the food core chinoises cuisine.

4.1.3. Shape

The food will come in a box sized in square shape. The size of the box will 8” x 9” x 3”. The meal box will be available in such a large size that can fill with 250 gm of the meal. The packaged food will have four squares in the box. Two separations will be included in the box of which one will consist of rice and another with curry (Trott & Simms, 2017). The addition of mushrooms in the packaged food will also provide a shape in which the food looks pentangular.

4.1.4.Price and weight

Roasted vegetables are normally weighted around 180-190 gm. With the addition of mushrooms and cheese, the weight of puff pastries could have been increased by 30-40 gm. The normal price of roasted vege4tables in the UK is around £2.75 that can be served to one person. However, the addition of mushrooms and cheese shred over the puff pastries will increase its price which will be around £2.90. The cost of the product will be decided on the basis of added spices and other ingredients. The policy of Co-op in the setting of food price will also be considered. Concerning the policy, the price of the packaged food has been deciding for roasted vegetables.

4.1.5. Packaging

Recently the government of the UK has implemented regulations for packaging and that has been implemented with the consideration of the environment. The government regulation states that 50% of packaging material must be made of organic materials like paper, cardboard which are easy to burn (GOV UK, 2021). Considering rules and regulations, packaging will be done with the consideration of environmental factors. The food will be packaged by using cardboard which can be recycled as well. The sustainability policy of Co-op will be considered in the packaging too. The packaging will be considered as a top priority for both sustainability and quality of delivery. The focus will be on meeting the demand of the government’s green development stagey.

4.1.6. Target market

Target market is defined as the segment of customers that are targeted by the companies to provide marketing efforts, use resources and sell the products. Considering the product category, it can be said that the company needs to target the young generation as well as professionals for the food. Theoretically, the market segmentation of the company will be based on demographic and psychographic market segmentation. Demographic market segmentation is defined as the marketing segmentation that is based on age, income, gender, etc. factors. While, psychographic market segmentation is based on the values, traits, interests, lifestyles, motivations of the customers (Pitt, et al., 2020). Considering the age and income factors, the young generation, as well as work professionals, can be considered as the target market. This is because the young generation is more tend to have the kind of healthy foods whereas work professionals’ lack of time to cook foods will insist on having ready meals (BBC, 2021). Considering psychographic market segmentation, it can be said that the lifestyle and lack of time to cook among the work professionals and attraction of young people towards junk foods will be considered for the target market as well.

4.2.           Spinach corn pulao

Concerning the attraction of customers towards corn and vegetables like spinach, the Spinach corn pulao will be offered to the customers. The food will have strong nutritional values that can be beneficial for the health conscious individuals. It will provide 106 kcal of energy per 100 gm along with 6.7 gm protein.

4.2.1. Main ingredient

The food will be prepared using spinach, corn and vegetables. The Veggies to be included in the item are as follows:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Mushroom
• Lettuce

With the vegetables, different types of spices will also be added to the food items. The addition of spices will provide a delicious taste of the food. Black peeper, cardamoms, cinnamon, spinach and onion will be added to the food too. While, brown cooked rice will be used to have the base of pulao.

4.2.2.Cuisine

The Cuisine will be continental. This is because the food will have spices from different Asian regions along with raw vegetables. The food can also be considered as the fusion of different cuisines. However, addition of pulao will made it an Indian dish as pulao is massively used in cooking Indian dishes.

4.2.3.Shape

The package will be shaped like a can. The shape of the food will be a circular cylinder. It will have a cap on the upper side that can be used to close and the box after eating the subsequent amount of food.

4.2.4.Price and weight

The cost will be average due to the addition of vegetables and spices only. Thus, the product will cost around £2.50 for one box. The weight of the ready meals will also increase subsequently with the addition of extra corn. The normal weight of the packaged food is 175 gm. Thus, the product will weigh around 200 gm after the addition of corns.

4.2.5. Packaging

The organization will adopt a sustainable approach in operating its business. Thus, the UK law on the use of more than 50% organic materials in packaging will be considered seriously. The packaging materials like cardboard, the paper is asked by the government to use in the packaging process. In the UK, more than 50 tonnes of waste have been generated from packaging materials an which has raised the concern of the government to take proactive steps (GOV UK, 2021). Considering the issue, 4.2. Veggie and Veggies Pot will package using paper and cardboard.

4.2.6. Target market

The target market of the food will be the customers who like to taste food with fusion or innovation. The customers proffered Chinese food and lack of time to cook will also be the target market of the firm. In the UK, people are tending to have vegan foods, and vegetables along with the spices from Indian or Chinese cuisine as well as corns will also make them the potential target market  (BBC, 2021). Theoretically, the customers will fall in the psychographic market segmentation. This is because the attitude and lifestyle of the customers towards food with fusion is considerable.

5.Summary

Based on the above study, it has been summarised that the ready-food would be acceptable to a wide range of audiences due to its taste and quality. Notwithstanding somewhat more expensive overall retail quantities connected to ready meals and contemporary condition advances, several administrations have been recognized in several levels. Labels like The Foods brand in the chilled section had a 59% traffic boost. The proposed products for Co-op are roasted vegetables and spinach corn pulao. The products have been proposed for their low cost along with the convenience of carrying. The foods will also be beneficial for the company to target the customer from demographic and psychographic market segments which have a large size of the customer base in the UK.

References

BBC, 2021. The rise of the ready meal. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21443166
[Accessed 03 February 2021].

BBC, 2021. Veganism: Why are vegan diets on the rise?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44488051
[Accessed 03 February 2021].

Birch, J. et al., 2019. Clustering of behavioural risk factors for health in UK adults in 2016: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Public Health, 41(3), pp. e226-e236.

Coop, 2021. GRO plant-based range. [Online]
Available at: https://www.coop.co.uk/products/vegan/gro
[Accessed 05 February 2021].

Cox, H., Mowatt, S. & Prevezer, M., 2003. New product development and product supply within a network setting: the chilled ready-meal industry in the UK. Industry and Innovation, 10(2), pp. 197-217.

GOV UK, 2021. Packaging waste: environmental responsibilities. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/packaging-waste-designer-responsibilities#:~:text=Packaging%20designed%20to%20be%20disposed,eg%20paper%2C%20wood%2C%20cardboard.
[Accessed 03 February 2021].

GOV UK, 2021. Packaging waste: producer responsibilities. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/packaging-producer-responsibilities
[Accessed 03 February 2021].

Pitt, C., Bal, A. & Plangger, K., 2020. New approaches to psychographic consumer segmentation. European Journal of Marketing, 1(1), p. 1.

Tesco, 2021. Ready Meals. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/fresh-food/ready-meals/all
[Accessed 05 February 2021].

Trott, P. & Simms, C., 2017. An examination of product innovation in low-and medium-technology industries: Cases from the UK packaged food sector. Research Policy, 46(3), pp. 605-623.

Worldpanelonline, 2021. Data Explorer for GB – Chilled Ready Meals. [Online]
Available at: https://eu.worldpanelonline.com/Reporting/Content/Navigator.aspx?x=990005~~5c6e918e-433e-4fd2-aa6e-11139b3a7c49~0~ReadyToUse~0~
[Accessed 05 February 201].

Worldpanelonline, 2021. Data Explorer for GB – Chilled Ready Meals. [Online]
Available at: https://eu.worldpanelonline.com/Reporting/Content/Navigator.aspx?x=990005~~5c6e918e-433e-4fd2-aa6e-11139b3a7c49~0~ReadyToUse~0~
[Accessed 05 February 2021].

Appendix

Figure 5: Spend in cuisines Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

Figure 6: Product by Cuisines Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

Figure 7: Spend by country Source: (Worldpanelonline, 2021)

Spinach corn pulao

Ingredients

1 cup of boiled sweet corn kernels, 2 cups of chopped spinach, 1 cup of cooked brown rice, 2 table spoon of oil, 4 black peeper, 1 stick of cinnamon, 2 cloves, 4 cardamoms, 1 cup of sliced onions, 1 table spoor of green chillies, 1 table spoon of turmeric and salt.

Method

Heat oil in non stick pan then add oil in two table spoon. Heat the entire food in low flame for 2-3 minutes. Half cup of water is needed to added for cooking the food. Salt as per taste is needed to add after adding water.

Noodles with roasted vegetables

Ingredients

1 carrot, 2 broccoli, 2 red peepers, 2 green peepers, 4 rip tomatoes, 2 red onions, 2 table spoon of virgin olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper, sunflower seeds, soya sauce, 340gm of pasta noodles, 3 table spoon of tomato puree, handful of basil leaves and salt to taste.

Method

Oven is needed to preheat at a temperature of 190⁰C. Red onions, tomatoes, red and green peepers, whole sized garlic cloves, are needed to add in a roasting tin with single layer of the foods. Two table spoon of olive oil is required to sprinkle over the tin and salt, peeper is needed to be added in the food item. Roast is needed to be performed for 45 minutes until the food is in soft and mushy conditions. Vegetables are also needed to be turned during cooking the ready meals. A non stick pan is also needed to heat for frying the sunflower seeds, with soya sauce. After the soya sauce evaporate the pan needs to cool done for 4-5 minutes. On the other hand, noodles are required to be cooked and then the mixture of vegetables are needed to be add with the noodles.

Roasted Vegetable & Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

1 cauliflower, 200g Red Lentils, 3 Red Bell Peppers, 4 White Onions, 4 Cloves Garlic, 1 tin Chopped Tomatoes, 100g Baby Spinach, 200g Tomato Puree, Fresh Ginger, 2 stable spoon of Madras Powder, 1 table spoon of Turmeric, 1 table spoon Ground Coriander, 1 table spoon Ground Cumin, ½ table spoon Garam Masala, Pinch Chilli Powder, 4 Cinnamon Sticks, 1 Bay Leaf,  2 table spoon Granulated Sugar, 3 table spoon Salt.

Method

Red lentils are required to be soaked for overnight, dicing the red pepper in 1 or 2 cm squares and chopping the cauliflower in small florets are required. After this, the pan is needed to heat with 95 gm of oil and garlic is required to fried until it becomes brown in colour. After this, onion, vegetables, ginger and chopped tomatoes are required to be added in the dish. Following this, the cooking is required to be carried for 30 minutes.

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni 450G

Ingredients

Water, Tomato, Whole Milk, Cooked Egg Pasta, Spinach, Ricotta Full Fat Whey Cheese, Skimmed Milk, Medium Fat Hard Cheese, Cornflour, Mature Cheddar Cheese, Wheat Flour, Single Cream, Medium Fat Soft Cheese, Onion, Tomato Purée, Butter, Garlic Purée, Salt, Basil, Sugar, Black Pepper, White Pepper, Nutmeg.

Method   

In 190⁰C temperature, the oven is required to heat. After this the packed food needs to placed at the entre of a baking tray. Leave it for 2 minutes. With the procedure, the food can be prepared under 10 minutes of overall time maximum.

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